---
title: The old chief would not let them go until the government promised mo… — Wigwam stories told by North American Indians · tree and pragmatics
description: The old chief would not let them go until the government promised money to support their families. Who acts: old chief, men, government. A sentence of «Wigwam stories told by North American Indians» by Mary Catherine Judd, Sioux and Chippewas of Minnesota, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics
---

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# Wigwam stories told by North American Indians, Sioux and Chippewas of Minnesota, sentence 37

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The old chief would not let them go until the government promised money to support their families.

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**Who acts:** old chief, men, government · **What happens:** not let, go, promise, support · **To what, where:** men, money, families

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This is a sentence of «Wigwam stories told by North American Indians» by Mary Catherine Judd, Sioux and Chippewas of Minnesota. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (old chief, men, government), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

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**Mova's own parse.** This tree may be wrong.

## The tree {#tree}

```conllu
# sent_id = book:pg73136:21:37
# text = The old chief would not let them go until the government promised money to support their families.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	chief	chief	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
4	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
5	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	6	advmod	_	_
6	let	let	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
7	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	obj	_	_
8	go	go	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	xcomp	_	_
9	until	until	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	government	government	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
12	promised	promise	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	advcl	_	_
13	money	money	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obj	_	_
14	to	to	PART	TO	_	15	mark	_	_
15	support	support	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	xcomp	_	_
16	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	17	nmod:poss	_	_
17	families	family	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **let** | would | the old chief | men *= man* |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **go** | infinitive | men *= man* *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **promise** *speech: promise* | past | the government | money |  |  |  |  | vn promise-37.13 «NP V NP that S»: agent=Agent money=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 4 | **support** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | the government *not said here* | men's families |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer family=Stimulus |

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One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

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**Text:** «Wigwam stories told by North American Indians» by Mary Catherine Judd, Project Gutenberg book 73136 (public domain in the USA). **Tree:** Mova's own parse, Elamur Cosmic License. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), the chapter read in order.

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